Attorney-Advisor (General) Job in Washington, DC

Vacancy No. 25-IG-12591227-DE-BP Department Department of Energy - Agency Wide
Salary $99,200.00 to $153,354.00 Grade 12 to 13
Perm/Temp Permanent FT/PT Full-time
Open Date 10/29/2024 Close Date 11/12/2024
Job Link Apply Online Who may apply Public
Locations:
Washington, DC


Summary

The Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Inspector General (OIG) is seeking an attorney in the Office of Counsel to represent the OIG in legal matters and advise OIG staff on matters related to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and/or the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Join our professional team who helps support DOE's mission through performance/financial audits, inspections of management issues and administrative allegations and investigations into alleged violations of law.

This job is open to

Clarification from the agency

All U.S. Citizens

Duties

As an Attorney Advisor, you will:

  1. Acquire and maintain basic legal knowledge, and ability on laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and guidance that could impact DOE or OIG operations related to IIJA and/or IRA funding, including matters arising under the Federal Acquisition Regulations.
  2. Assist with legal research into statutes, court decisions, decisions of administrative tribunals, and other legal and regulatory instruments to provide OIG leadership and staff with supporting documentation, information, and precedents regarding alleged breaches of Federal laws, regulations, and policies relating to DOE programs and operations related to IIJA and/or IRA funding.
  3. Prepare all legal documents, such as subpoenas, motions and other documents related to federal enforcement matters, needed to present case.
  4. Provide oral and written legal opinions to your supervisor, other attorneys and other OIG managers on basic legal issues that impact the OIG.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or National.
  • This employer participates in the e-Verify program.
  • Males born after 12/31/1959 must be registered for Selective Service.
  • Suitable for Federal employment, as determined by a background investigation.
  • May be required to successfully complete a probationary period.
  • May be required to submit a Financial Disclosure Statement, OGE-450 or an Executive Branch Personnel Confidential Financial Disclosure Report upon entering the position and annually (5CFR Part 2634, Subpart I USOGE, 6/08).

Qualifications

You must meet all qualifications and eligibility requirements by the closing date (11/12/2024) of this announcement.

Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.

For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected

Education and Specialized Experience:

Basic Education Requirement: Applicants must possess a JD degree from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (or have an LLM (Master of Laws) degree or other graduate law degree in addition to a JD).

GS-12: Applicant must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from a School of Law accredited by the American Bar Association. Applicant must also be a member in good standing of the bar of any state or the District of Columbia. Applicant must also have at least one year of professional (attorney) legal experience that clearly indicates the ability to independently perform complex legal work at a level of difficulty and responsibility commensurate with the duties of this position.

GS-13: Applicant must possess a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from a School of Law accredited by the American Bar Association. Applicant must also be a member in good standing of the bar of any state or the District of Columbia. Applicant must also have at least two years of professional (attorney) legal experience that clearly indicates the ability to independently perform complex legal work at a level of difficulty and responsibility commensurate with the duties of this position.

In order to qualify, you must meet the eligibility and qualifications requirements as defined above by the closing date of the announcement.

Volunteer Experience: "Experience" refers to paid and unpaid experience. Examples of qualifying unpaid experience may include: volunteer work done through National Service programs (such as Peace Corps and AmeriCorps); as well as work for other community-based philanthropic and social organizations. Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills; and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Education

This position has a Basic Requirement/Positive Education requirement. See the Qualifications section above for detailed requirement.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

Additional information

  • The U.S. Department of Energy fosters a diverse and inclusive workplace and is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
  • This announcement may be used to fill additional similar positions across OIG-DOE if identical vacancies occur within 120 days of the issue date of the referral certificate.
  • More than one selection may be made from this announcement.
  • For general information on government-wide Telework polices visit: www.telework.gov
Promotion Potential: Promotion to the full performance level is neither guaranteed nor implied and will be based solely on your ability to satisfactory perform the work of the position, existing work at the higher grade level, and recommending by the position's supervisor.

For Reasonable Accommodation information or assistance:
Email: reasonableaccommodationoig@hq.doe.gov
Phone: (202)586-4393
711 for TTY-Based Telecommunications Relay Service | Federal Communications Commission (fcc.gov)

Benefits

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Once the application process is complete, your resume and supporting documentation will be used to determine whether you meet the job qualifications. If you are minimally qualified for this job, your responses to the self-assessment questions (True/False, Yes/ No, Multiple Choice questions) will be evaluated and you will be placed into one of three pre-defined quality categories under Category Rating procedures. These categories are "Best Qualified", "Well Qualified", and "Qualified. If you rate yourself higher than is supported by your application materials, your responses may be adjusted and/or you may be excluded from consideration for this job.

Your qualifications will be evaluated on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics):

  • Legal, Government, and Jurisprudence
  • Oral Communication
  • Research
  • Written Communication


Career Transition Assistance Programs: To receive selection priority for this position, you must: 1) meet the eligibility criteria; and 2) be rated "well-qualified", which is defined as scoring in the Well Qualified category (or higher).

To preview the Assessment Questionnaire, click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12591227

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you MUST provide a complete application package which includes:

  • Your RESUME showing all relevant work experience (paid and unpaid) including: duties performed; full name and address of the each employer; start and end dates (month/day/year); work schedule (part-time, full-time, number of hours if intermittent); salary; and any completed education and training (program title, subject area, number of hours completed, and completion date).
  • Cover Letter, optional, expressing additional information not covered in your resume.
  • Transcripts, if specific educational requirements are indicated in this job announcement.Unofficial transcripts or any report listing institution, course title, credits earned (semester or quarter hour) and final grade is acceptable. It is your responsibility to provide adequate proof that you meet the educational requirements.
  • Veterans' Preference documentation,if applicable, DD-214 Member Copy 4 showing type of discharge/character of service; current active duty members- certification of expected discharge or release from active duty under honorable conditions dated within 120 days; SF-15 Form and related documentation; VA letter. For more information visit the USAJOBS Help Center & OPM CHCOC website for VOW information.
  • Career Transition Assistance Program/Interagency Career Transition Assistance Program documentation, if applicable(e.g., Certification of Expected Separation, Reduction-In-Force Separation Notice, or Notice of Proposed Removal; SF-50 that documents the RIF separation action; and most recent performance appraisal.) For more information see the OPM Guide to Career Transition.

Failure to submit any of the above mentioned required documents may result in loss of consideration due to an incomplete application package. It is your responsibility to ensure all required documents have been submitted.

How to Apply

Please read the entire announcement and all the instructions before you begin an application. To apply for this position, you must complete the initial online application, to include submission of the required documentation specified in the Required Documents section. A complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (EST) on the announcement closing date to receive consideration.

The application process is as follows:

  1. You must have a login.gov account to sign into USAJOBS: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/account/.
  2. To begin the application process in USAJOBS, click the Apply Online button.
  3. Answer the questions presented in the application and attach all required and supporting documentation.
  4. You must click the Submit Application button prior to 11:59 pm (ET) on the announcement closing date.

You may update your application, including supporting documentation, at any time during the announcement open period by returning to your USAJOBS account, select Update Application: https://my.usajobs.gov/Account/Login. This option will no longer be available once the announcement has closed.

To verify the status of your application, during and after the announcement open period, log into your USAJOBS account; applications will appear on the Welcome screen. The Application Status will appear along with the date your application was last updated. For information on what each application status means, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/how-to/application/status/.

If you need help with login.gov or USAJOBS (e.g., account access, Resume Builder) visit the USAJOBS Help Center: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/

If you experience difficulty applying on USAJOBS, after clicking the Apply Online button, or you are experiencing a significant hardship hindering your ability to apply online, the Agency Contact listed in the announcement can assist you during normal business hours. If you receive any system error messages, take screenshots if possible, to aid technical support.

Do not submit photographs with your application package. Documents with photographs may not be seen by hiring officials - you must remove your image from any badges, licenses, etc.

Do not upload Adobe portfolio documents. Adobe portfolio documents are not viewable by our agency's staffing offices.

Agency contact information

Betty Poole
Address
Office of the Inspector General
1000 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20585
US
Learn more about this agency

Next steps

Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. The status of your application will be updated in USAJOBS as it is evaluated.

You can check the status by logging into USAJOBS. You may also sign up to receive automatic emails anytime the status of your application changes by logging into your USAJobs Account and editing the Notification Settings.

You will be contacted directly if an interview is required. All applicants will receive notifications and you will be notified of our rating and referral decision. If you are referred, you will be notified after a hiring decision is made.


Note: We cannot accept applications on behalf of Federal Agencies. Application instructions are listed within the Job Description.